Sunday, May 22, 2016

Russia’s Muslims Failed to Fill Haj Quota Last Year But Plan to Ask for More Slots Next Year

Paul
Goble

Staunton, May 22 – Last year, for
the first time, the Muslims of Russia failed to fill all the haj slots allotted
to them by the Saudis, sending only 12,000 Muslims and not the 16,400 the Riyadh
had agreed to. But despite that, Muslim leaders say, they will press for more
slots next year when the Saudis currently plan to restore the Russian allocation
to 20,400.

The reason the Russian allocation is
scheduled to go up is that the reconstruction the Saudis have been carrying out
in Mecca will be completed, while Russia’s Muslim leaders say they will ask for
25,000, in recognition of their growing numbers – the Saudis a lot one haj slot
per 1,000 Muslims per year per country – and in hopes that the Russian economy
will improve.

These are just some of the figures, many
surprising but others completely expected, about the number of hajis from
various parts of the Russian federation over the last three years that Maksim
Matveyev and Liliya Khafizova offer in an article on Kazan’s “Realnoye vrema”
portal this past week (realnoevremya.ru/analytics/31071).

As protectors
of Islam’s holiest places, the Saudis each year allocate haj slots to every
country where there are Muslims. Then, the Russian authorities divide these
among the four major Muslim republics – Tatarstan, Daghestan, Chechnya and
Ingushetia – and the three largest Muslim Spiritual Directorates (MSDs). -- the
Central MSD in Bashkortostan, the Union of Muftis of Russia (SMR) in Moscow,
and the Coordinating Center for Muslims in the North Caucasus.

Last
year, Russia was allocated 16,400 slots, with Tatarstan getting 1200, Daghestan
6200, Chechnya 2600, Ingushetia 1400, the Central MSD 1100, the Union of Muftis
2500, and the Coordinating Center for Muslims of the North Caucasus 1100. But
it sent to Mecca only a total of about 12,000, with some of these places
falling short and others oversubscribed.

According
to “Realnoye vremya,” Tatarstan sent only 50 percent of the number it was
originally allotted, Daghestan about 70 percent, Chechnya 100 percent,
Ingushetia 100 percent, the Central MSD 160 percent, the Union of Muftis 80
percent, and the Coordinating Center 100 percent.

(The
Russian haj authorities can shift slots from one to another if it becomes clear
that those to whom the slots were assigned in the first place were unable to
fill them. Moreover, it sometimes happens that Muslims in places where the allocation
is oversubscribed will apply elsewhere, also shifting the balance.)

The
major reason for the inability of Russia’s Muslims to fill all the slots they
had available was economic: Many Muslims in Russia are suffering from that
country’s economic downturn, and they are hurt in particular by the collapse of
the ruble against the dollar given that the Saudis require dollars in payment
for haj services.

But
there are three other reasons that there is such a wide disparity among Russia’s
Muslims in filling the quota. First, there are very real differences in
interest with Muslims in Daghestan traditionally far more interested in going
than those in Tatarstan. Second, some republics like Chechnya heavily subsidize
travel while others do not. And third, there are major differences in the
prices haj tourist agencies offer. All of them raised their prices over the
last year, but some are as much as a third cheaper than others.

Despite
failing to fill a quarter of the slots last year, Rushan Abbyasov, a senior
official with the SMR and part of the Russian haj delegation to Saudi Arabia
which negotiates the quotas, says that Russia’s Muslims plan to ask for 25,000
slots for next year, not the 20,400 the Saudis have suggested they will
offer(idmedina.ru/medina/?6744).

The reason for that, he says, is
that 25,000 more closely reflects the rapidly growing number of Muslims in the
Russian Federation.